As the Brooklyn Nets season inches closer, Kyrie Irving continues to remain unvaccinated, putting his status to play in home games in jeopardy, but that does not mean he is anti-vaccine, apparently.
Sources close to the Nets star told NBA Insider Shams Charania that Irving’s stance is due to the vaccine mandates, specifically that people are losing their jobs over it.
Per Charania, Irving views it as a fight challenging a perceived control of society and people’s livelihood and that he wants to give a “voice to the voiceless,” according to a source.
This is what Irving has explained to his teammates, whom he was just cleared to practice with again on Friday after New York City Hall ruled the team’s training facility is a public office building.
The vaccine remains the nation’s strongest effort in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, but there continues to be hesitancy despite its proven safety and effectiveness and debate over enforcing mandates.
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New York City, along with San Francisco and Los Angeles, is among those with the strictest vaccine policies, requiring anyone over the age of 12 to show proof of vaccination for indoor dining, indoor fitness or indoor entertainment and meeting spaces.
Under these rules, Irving would not be allowed to play games at Barclays Center unless he is vaccinated. A City Hall official told Charania that there is no expectation to remove the current rules.
While the NBA says it will dock pay for any player who misses a game for failing to comply with local mandates, Charania notes that Irving is not driven by money.
Instead, Irving’s teammates and organization is left to answer for him.
“Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose,” Nets GM Sean Marks said in a statement on Tuesday. “Currently, the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with parti-time availability. It is imperative that we continue to build chemistry as a team and remain true to our long-established value of togetherness and sacrifice. Our championship goals for the season have not changed, and to achieve these goals each member of our organization must pull in the same direction.
“We are excited for the start of the season and look forward to a successful campaign that will make the borough of Brooklyn proud.”
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